More Great Muay Thai Clinch Escapes

Hello All,

As I was doing my usual Youtube search I came across this video with former UFC Middleweight Champ Dave Menne at Tiger Muay Thai & MMA training camp (www.tigermuaythai.com). The thing that I want you to pay attention to Kru Moo’s emphasis on the details of Dave’s hand and hip position and the importance that Kru Moo of that before striking even takes place.

Enjoy this video it is a great video on the Clinch.

Shawn

Synergy Martial Arts Goals for 2010

Hello All,

I know they are a little late but just found the time to put them down. So here are our goals for 2010.

• End of February Paypal links for KISS DVD’s and tuition for classes up and running
• By end of March early April 700 sq ft of Swain rollout mats
• Have Thursday night classes held at Hamburg Fitness Center
• Summer Kicking Domestic Violence’s Butt fundraiser benefiting LaCasa
• June Clinch and Filipino Martial Arts DVD’s available for sale
• Our first out of state seminar in Ohio early summer on clinching and FMA
• 3rd annual Synergy Martial Arts picnic @ Kensington in August
• Early fall rest of School floor matted
• Kicking Domestic Violence’s Butt LaCasa fundraiser in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month
• End of 2010 have classes available Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday nights for a total of 12 hrs of class a week

So here we go we have set the bar high time to hit the ball out of the park!!!

A brief explanation of Synergy Martial Arts Training Methods

Hello All,

This post was inspired by a recent conversation that I had with a student that is in our Kaizen Young Adult Self-Defense program. She has recently began wrestling and was curious why wrestling was so different from the submission grappling that we teach. This lead to a little more in-depth conversation about our training & teaching methods @ Synergy Martial Arts. I felt that after our conversation it was important to post our training and teaching methods so that everyone could have a better understanding as well.

So first I feel that it is important to begin with our Mission Statement.

 Synergy Martial Arts is a group of Martial Arts Instructors that are dedicated to researching the most efficient and effective Self-Defense methods available. Our goal is to empower our students to overcome their fears and meet them head on so that they can live a more productive passion filled lifestyle.

We feel that when a person is confident that they can defend themselves or a loved one they have less anxiety and can process stress more efficiently it has a huge impact on their confidence and their personal life. Once that is accomplished we then expose them to many different Martial Arts styles and Instructors this exposure allows them to remain flexible and open to different ways of training and types of techniques. As we this process happens we  remind them to look for what each style has in common, this allows them to compare and contrast and ultimately pick what works best for them.

All through the process we emphasize that they become well-rounded Martial Artists, we feel that being prepares them to be able to protect themselves and their loved ones. It also allows them just enough experience kicking, punching, trapping/clinch, grappling and weapons so that when they reach intermediate to advanced levels the student has the ability to choose an area of specialization.

For example here is a brief timeline of my areas of interest in my training from 1995-1998 I loved training Jun Fan Gung Fu and Filipino Martial Arts, 1998-2001 I was very interested in Muay Thai and Pencak Silat. For a period of 3 years 2002-2005 I took off so that I could really focus on building my Massage business. When I started teaching again in 2005 I was focused on Sifu Paul Vunak’s RAT system, Clinching and Position Grappling. Now I find my interests leaning towards Wing Chun and Submission Grappling. Some would call my interests a bit unfocused but due to the influnce of my Instructors I was able to see the things that all of those arts had in common and where training them helped me to be a well-rounded Martial Artist.

I have seen this approach work with not only myself but my students as well, my student is learning the rules to the wrestling game but she has some exposure to double and single leg tackles and understand the concept of head control and wrist control that are so important in the wrestling game.

To close out this post our goals is to build students that have a solid foundation in Self-Defense training and in basic Martial Arts training methods. Students that understand that simplicity is understanding the basics to a level that most don’t examine to and that the simpler that you get the more complex the training really becomes.

Want to kick harder? Watch and learn

Hello All,

For the last 2 months we have worked very hard on our hip turn over on our rear leg round kick. Here are two great videos for understanding not only the hip turn over but how to use your footwork to set up your kick. Last Thursday night when Lopes and I were teaching @ Gladiator MMA our focus of the training was to teach the fighters how to use their footwork to get their body in the right position to set up their bodies for power and combination striking.

In this 1st video Bas Rutten does a great job explaining how to use your base leg so that your hip turns over naturally. I met Bas in 1998 and he was a great guy. I miss watching Pride and listening to Bas do the play by play.

In the 2nd video Olivier Gruener talks about how MMA fighters limit their power when kicking because they don’t understand the centerline theory. This video is from Sensei Erik Paulson (www.erikpaulson.com) CSW 2008 camp DVD series. I have the 2008 camp and it is awesome  Olivier Gruner does an amazing job explaining Muay Thai and punching. Also as an added bonus on this video clip you get a little Greg Nelson teaching you how to use and inside cover to clinch.

Watch these two videos and implement them into your training with hard work and smart training methods your kicking will have lots of power and more importantly control so that you can set up your hands and takedowns.

Shawn

Want to Escape the Muay Thai Clinch?

Hello All,

Sorry it’s been a while since I posted we have been very busy working on promoting our KISS Women’s Self-Defense program and we are making some very exciting progress. We will let you know more as we go along.

In this video Sensei Erik Paulson is demonstrating escapes from the clinch. We at Synergy Martial Arts feel that the clinch is one of the most widely adaptable positions in Martial Arts. When you play the clinch with someone has developed their clinch game to a high level it can be very tough to escape. Sensei Erik shows a couple of variations that chain together, chaining together escapes or variations of a technique is a very important skill set to develope.

Watch and enjoy this video and go implement them in your next clinch session.

Shawn

Are you getting all that you can out of your training?

Hello All,

Last week I went to my routine private Martial Arts lesson with my Sifu Dave Hatch (www.attributivemartialarts.com) during my private Sifu Dave and I were discussing training protocols and progressions. It was very surreal to me as we were talking because it was the same discussion that we had 15 years earlier ago stance and body mechanics during punching and kicking. Only this time instead of focusing solely on my mechanics we were talking about how I could use these things to help my students.

If you have trained with us you know that we spend a large amount of time on the basics of a technique and the understanding of how, why and when you do a technique. One of the things that used to frustrated me when I was training early on was fellow students that wanted to jump ahead to the “cool” material. They didn’t want to focus on the basics and get them down so that when they went to the “cool” material they would have a solid foundation.

We have had many “Blackbelt” level students come to Synergy Martial Arts and quite often when I watch them punch and kick I see the same fundamental mistakes. They lack power because they are punching with their arms and kicking with their legs. Stop for a moment and examine that statement, what is the point that I am attempting to get across? The only way that you can punch is with your arms and kicking is done with your legs right?

The strike is performed with either the arms or the legs but the power and the set up for the technique comes from the body. Regardless of how you are striking the transfer of power has to come from the ground up. First there has to be proper alignment of the feet, then proper rotation of the feet, next the hips have to turn over, after the hips the shoulders move and lastly the limbs strike.

But the strike is not complete here you must reverse that order to set up your next technique. After striking you have to move the shoulders, then the hips and get your feet back underneath you so that you are able to begin the next strike.

I have spent much of the last 15 years working on the above series and in my teaching I have spent the last 5 on researching the proper order and training methods that will bring out these body mechanics. These training methods and drills are constantly evolving to fit the needs and the constant change in understanding of our students skill levels.

At Synergy Martial Arts our goal is for our students to have a solid grasp of basics to steal a term from Crossfit we want our students to be 80%ers. What this means is that our students will have an understanding of the basic ideas of striking, clinch/trapping, position grappling, striking from the ground, submission grappling, blunt and bladed weapons. Once they have the basics down we then move to more specialized training to fit and meet there interests. This may come from Synergy Martial Arts or we may send them out to do private or group classes with an instructor that specializes in one of the above categories.

So my question to you the reader is; where is your focus at in your training? Is it on the next technique or is it on how to properly train and implement the training of that technique so that you can set a solid foundation to grow from?

Thanks for reading,

Shawn

Watch Sifu Larry Hartsell teach Grappling!!!

Hello All,

I am really excited about this video. Sifu Larry Hartsell was and still is a huge influence to the JKD community.  Sifu Larry was a bouncer to many people including Mr. T. I bought his books on JKD Grappling and they really peaked my interest on being able to put striking and grappling together.

I had the great opportunity to attend 1 of his seminars in the mid 90’s he was a great instructor and a great person. My Sifu Dave Hatch (www.attributivemartialarts.com) was an Instructor under Sifu Larry.

In this video he shows the victor’s roll to leg locks, wrist locks and kimura variations from cross body and he also discusses his Martial Arts history.

Though Sifu Larry has passed his legacy lives on his wife Debra Hartsell is keeping the JKG Grappling Association (www.jkdassoc.com) up and running.

This video is rare treat that shows a legend in his own right enjoy this video there are not that many like this of Sifu Larry out there!!!

Shawn

Guro Rick Faye Demonstrating Panantukan (Filipino Boxing)

Hello All,

This morning while I was searching YouTube I came across this video of Guro Rick Faye (www.mnkali.com) demonstrating Panantukan. For those of you who have not been exposed to Panantukan it is Filipino boxing. In strikes to the back of the head and, spine and kidney were legal. Also you could hook and trap the arms some of Panantukan looks a lot like Wing Chun in the methods of trapping.

Guro Rick has spent a large amount of time into researching Panantukan and has done an amazing job of putting together Panantukan into a curriculum that can be reproduced. One other thing that Guro Rick is really good at is the ability to chain together techniques so that they flow together.

Enjoy,

Shawn

Want to Learn Muay Thai? Watch this video and learn!!! Part 2

Hello All,

Here is Part 2 of the video done in the early 80’s by Guro Dan (www.inosanto.com) and Ajarn Chai (www.thaiboxing.com) I am amazed by the high level of instruction in this video. Not that I expect any less from Guro Dan and Ajarn Chai but if this video was released today it would be way ahead of its time because of it’s clear instruction and simplicity of the techniques.

Here are some highlights from the video

• The Plumm (clinch) and how to use it
• The different Muay Thai Knees and how to train them
• In 1 drill improve your elbows and punching
• How to use a focus mitt to improve your rear knee

Watch this video it will improve your understanding of Muay Thai’s training methods and how to implement them into your game.

Shawn

Want learn Muay Thai? Watch this video and learn part 1.

Hello All,

In this video you will see two legendary Martial Artists Guro Dan Inosanto (www.inosanto.com) & Ajarn Chai (www.thaiboxing.com). This video was shot in the early 80’s but it is probably some of the best instruction I have seen on the Muay Thai round kick. Guro Dan and Ajarn Chai break down the kick into segments that are so simple you will understand how to perform and train the kick. Also they teach the two stances in Muay Thai the Box Stance and Kick Stance. I remember the 1st Ajarn Chai seminar that I attended we drilled both the Box and Kick Stance and it was a huge help in my understanding of them.

Enjoy this video it is probably one of the best you will ever see on Muay Thai!!!

Shawn